Athletes at top of their game

Athletes Scott Leadbetter and John Oliver trained together in the French Alps ahead of their events and are now both celebrating massive personal achievements.

Scott, who opened endurance hub Cybelé Vélo in Blackpool earlier this year, represented Great Britain in the Ironman 70.3 in South Africa while John took on a gruelling seven-day Alps bike ride, raising more than £2,500 for Trinity Hospice.

Scott, who went to Hodgson High School and lives in Hambleton, was in good company during the event with world class athletes including Alistair Brownlee taking part.

He said: “Ironman Worlds was an unreal experience.

“The conditions were windy and rainy which made for a very choppy sea swim, windy bike and a very damp run!

“As a Lancashire lad, these conditions were what I’m use to training in so I thrived in it.”

Scott flew out to Cape town with his father Peter joining him for support ahead of the race on September 1.

The 30-year-old added: “I managed to PB my swim, run and overall half Ironman time in four hours and 39 minutes.”

Scott’s business on Coleridge Road in North Shore has gone from strength to strength since opening in February.

The hub is a place for new and elite athletes to train and socialise together.

With setting up the business, Scott found it difficult to make time to train at the start of the year but has trained consecutively since May.

Prior to the Ironman 70.3 challenge, Scott took part in the Salford Triathlon where he placed fifth.

Now he has his sights set on the European Championships for middle distance triathlon in October in Ibiza.

John, 48, from Blackpool, trained for 12 months to overcome the amazing challenge of Haute Route Alps, which involved him cycling consecutively for seven days averaging 180km per day.

The event started in Megeve and finished on the coast at Nice, taking in 20,000 metres of climbing during the route.

John trains regularly at Cybelé Vélo and has been coached by the Cybelé coaching team.

Cybele Velo offers training for cycling, swimming and running, including a high tech performance lab.

Scott added: “We have also now started a non-profit making cycling club and also a triathlon club based at the Velo.

“Each Saturday morning we have up to 35 riders joining us for routes from 30 to 80 miles.”

To support John’s fund-raising visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/johnoliver-alps